THE CITY INBOX.

[vecna]

USERNAME: VECNA HENRY CREEL STRANGER THINGS TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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[fanstheflames]

[ You know what else works?

Tactical honesty from the other side. ]

... About a year ago, a little longer maybe... I lost a friend of mine. There was a lot going on at the time and I was just... kind of a mess. I was super stressed.

But my friends and I heard about this amusement park and thought we should go, just to focus on something else. And I think...

That was probably the first time I just relaxed, completely. Like I was so stressed from everything that I just let it go then. So it's kind of associated with a bad memory, but at the same time, it meant something like peace to me. I can't think of it as something bad, not entirely.

[vecna]

[They're both very good at this! Selective, tactical honesty.]

I see.

[He takes a moment to think that over. A place associated with loss, but also with something fond. The ability to forget about all that ails you, letting it go, if even for a day.

Henry wouldn't know what that's like, always discontent, never knowing--or remembering--what it was to be otherwise. In that vein, her response... rankles him, just a little.]

Funny how memory works like that, isn't it? [He's going to keep walking to the next "aisle" of mirrors over. The default reply would be "I'm sorry to hear about your loss", but he doesn't offer that this time.] Never so straightforward. Always interwoven with some other experience, some other emotion, like the thread in a spider's web.

So how does being at an amusement park make you feel now?

[fanstheflames]

... Like I feel like we're going to be jumped at any minute.

[ Well, this is just full-on honesty. Maybe Henry will have better experiences in the future and he can stop being a little shit over someone having happy memories! ]

[vecna]

[...He can't blame her there, not really.

AND MAYBE SOMEONE SHOULD LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, GIVE HIM HAPPY MEMORIES--]

By more mannequins?

[fanstheflames]

... Oh, I guess it is kind of the same feeling...

[ LISTEN SHE'S TRYING (unintentionally)

WE'RE BONDING, HENRY!! ]

But I think if they try, we could take 'em!

[vecna]

[I GUESS THAT'S WHAT THIS IS,

He tilts his head to suggest they keep moving, then walks on until they reach a mirror stretching their reflection out in wavy curves.]

I threw a toolbox at the last one. [A beat.] With my powers. That nearly took it out of me. I'd probably have to rely on you to do the protecting, Tsuruno.

[fanstheflames]

[ Wow they look like the ocean ]

... Well, I didn't actually try to punch one, but I think I could do it. I wouldn't let them hurt you, at least.

[ FRIENDSHIP!!!! ]

[vecna]

[friendship????? what is that]

I wouldn't blame you if you did. You don't know me that well to go risking life and limb.

[fanstheflames]

Does knowing someone super well or not have anything to do with what you'd be willing to do to protect them?

[vecna]

Generally, yes. [This is a difference of heroism, here. Can you tell one of these character is a villain.] Why would you throw yourself into danger for the sake of an almost-stranger unless you had something to prove? Or a more practical reason, I guess.

[fanstheflames]

Well, if I let someone get hurt or worse, they stay an almost-stranger forever and nothing changes, for me or for them. You never know what someone's going to end up being to you, in the long run.

[vecna]

[That's an interesting way to look at it, he thinks. Almost pragmatic in its way of justifying coming to the aid of a rando.]

You make it sound like it's a priority of yours to collect as many friends as possible.

[fanstheflames]

It just kind of reminds me of what you said, that your family never tried to understand you. I think a lot of things can change if people have support, one way or another.

[vecna]

[Hm.]

Maybe. That depends on who you want to support, and who you want to "change." Do you think people can change no matter what's already happened to them over the course of their lives?

[fanstheflames]

Yeah.

[ calmly. ]

[vecna]

[Smilingly.]

I think that's naive of you.

[fanstheflames]

[ Just as smilingly. ]

That's okay. I'm used to close-minded people assuming that about me.

[vecna]

Now you're putting words in my mouth.

[THEY CAN DO THIS ALL DAY, MA'AM]

I didn't say you were naive, but I think that belief in particular doesn't account for the range of experiences life might throw at a person. Change only happens when someone wants to make it, too.

[fanstheflames]

And you asked if I think people can change, not whether they will.

[ THEY SURE CAN!!! ]

I don't think either of us can say whether someone will decide to or not. But I do think everyone's got that potential.

[vecna]

[Something about this line of conversation irks him. It's not so much dealing in semantics as the topic itself, brushing a little too close to bone-deep misantropy.]

Maybe. I'll give you that much.

[But.]

But that's a very small percentage of people. [Anyway, he continues walking! Perhaps, if one has keen eyes, the flicker of a shadow moves along the row of mirrors nearby. For now, Henry's focused on the conversation.] I think what we're disagreeing on, really, is someone's inherent willingness to change.

[fanstheflames]

[ She glances towards the shadow but opts not to mention it. ]

Mm... maybe that's it. So you think people are just too stuck in their ways after a certain point to want to change?

[vecna]

[Don't mention the spooky things, Tsuruno, it's probably fine.]

I think people trick themselves into thinking they're happy to be stuck in their ways, no matter what they say. It's easy to fall in-line with expectations and what you're used to. Even if it's suffocating, most keep marching on that way until the end.

[fanstheflames]

... Are you happy, Henry?

[vecna]

[Absolutely not.

Of course he just smiles though, looking at her askance.]

I think I'm all right, given all that's happened to me. [What a question, Tsuruno.] But, at the same time, no. I'm angry about a lot of things, too.

[fanstheflames]

Oh.

... Then we're the same, a little.